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However, Microsoft’s role at the center of the information technology universe is very much in doubt, for two reasons. The first culprit is Microsoft’s own lack of focus and the second is a pair of industry trends that Microsoft is not well-positioned to exploit:

The migration of applications to the Web browser

The rise of the computer phone

I’m not so sure about the first one, but I am personally disappointed on the 2nd count.

I am not sure about the first one because MS has been pushing Windows Live for everything. There is even an Office Live, which I have to wonder if that doesn’t cut into their pocketbook somewhere. MS has also launched a beta social networking site called Microsoft Vine. If you are like me, you’re probably wondering if we really need another social networking site. However, MS has usually found a way to push out other competitors in the past, so I’m not ready to bet against them.

The smartphone seems to be a different story, though. When it comes to the smartphone, I want to ask, “What have you done for me lately?” I mean, where are the hardware enhancements? Where are the software enhancements? Where are the bug fixes?

In fact, when my T-Mobile Dash had problems – again! – T-Mobile “upgraded” me to a Blackberry Pearl. I’m not impressed with the Pearl. It is more stable, but then again I cannot do half of what I did on my Dash unless I want to pay more!

I’m disappointed in mobile computing in general, but twice so when it comes to MS smartphones. The capabilities are there. Windows Mobile is a decent OS, but it needs an upgrade. The hardware and OS needs to be able to take more memory – easily. At the moment, the hardware and software is like the 286 with expanded memory. It works, but only sort of.

The Blackberry, while nice, means dumping my Windows apps and paying more for the same level of service. Yet, it looks like MS is not going to topple RIM any time soon because they’ve been asleep at the wheel.

MS Project is undoubtedly the most widely known tool in the project management (PM) field. After it might come a myriad of clones and/or ERP solutions.

However, I would argue that MS Office actually should be inserted between those two. Did you know you can do Gantt charts in Excel? Some people actually track projects using Excel. There are even templates for doing this. That might be more at the extreme end, though. MS Word, PowerPoint and Visio, or perhaps OpenOffice equivalents, are all part of the PM toolbox.

I’ve never really understood why I need another application to do diagrams, though. Visio can be expensive on top of that. What if all you want to do is flowcharts, and only occasionally at that?